


Such A Long Way To Fall

by Cephy



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Community: fictunes, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-12
Updated: 2008-09-12
Packaged: 2017-10-06 05:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cephy/pseuds/Cephy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written using "Zero Hour" by Floater as inspiration.</p><p><i>And as the engines fail<br/>Oh I keep on feeling higher<br/>Yeah I think my future looks bright<br/>Now that it's all on fire...</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Such A Long Way To Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place near the end of the game.

Once, having listened to too many of Guy's fontech stories, he'd dreamed of flying. High enough that all he could see were clouds, floating safe in his little metal box while the wind blew faintly on his face. It certainly hadn't been anything like this. No, this--

_This_ was banking and jerking and spinning as they evaded the guns, making his stomach clench even though the lurch in his throat felt more like a laugh. _This_ was air screaming through the turbines, battering the hull. _This_ was free-falling towards the earth, and Asch briefly thought that if he had to die anyway, _this_ wouldn't be such a bad way to go.

Noir had tried to talk him out of it. She'd stood right in his face and said all sorts of things like _you're alive right now, why're you so determined not to be? I don't understand_, and of course she didn't. There had been a look in her eyes like she might have been about to slap him, or tuck him under her arm and ship him back to the Isle like any of the children she'd collected over the years. But she hadn't. And he'd left. And here he was, heading toward the end, inevitably, finally. It was--

They swooped again, and something on the airship's surface burned. Asch lurched heavily against the pilot's seat, and Ginji told him through gritted teeth to sit the hell down already, but he wasn't really paying attention.

It was--

Eldrant was falling-- slowly, but he could see it sinking, and he wondered what the hell Van was doing. Though he supposed he'd find out soon enough, or maybe Luke would, or maybe-- the thought came to him from nowhere, and he couldn't say what he felt about it-- maybe they both would. Unlikely. But either way, it would be done, would finally be finished. So many things that would finally be finished. And maybe some of it should have turned out differently, but it was far too late to think about that.

Diving now, beneath the line of fire, skimming too close to the ocean's surface. Asch braced hands against the seat, braced feet on the floor and closed his eyes to _feel_ as the floor dropped out from under him and the walls tilted.

It was _glorious_.

In his mind, he heard Spinoza telling him again that there was nothing more that could be done, that there was no way to stop his body from eventually failing. The sensation of sinking he'd had then was remarkably similar, and yet completely different.

Ginji wrenched the controls. "We're going down, but I think I can--"

The Albiore III tilted wildly, spun, cracked and sparked. Eldrant loomed ever larger through the front view, and Asch thought-- this is it, this is the end, it's all come to this moment. He surprised himself by smiling, though it felt sharp against his cheeks.

_Here's a "big bang" for you, Spinoza_, he thought. If this was how it ended, he'd make sure they saw it all the way in Daath.

Like hell he'd go down quietly.


End file.
